Our story

Q ArtPass is an initiative of the United Methodist Church of Palm Springs. We seek to provide queer youth and their friends with access to the arts as a means of encouragement, education, and enjoyment. We partner on this work with Safe Schools Desert Cities, which sponsors 63 gay-straight alliance (GSA) groups in our valley schools. Although we are open to working with students from anywhere in the valley, our primary outreach will be to PSUSD, where we seek to engage high school choral, band, and visual arts teachers in conversations.

To date, we've begun forming relationships with a variety of arts organizations, including The Palm Springs Gay Men's Chorus, The Palm Springs Art Museum, the Musical Theater University (MTU) in Rancho Mirage, and, soon, the Desert Winds Freedom Band.

Our primary focus is to ensure students have access to dress rehearsal events. There is something special about getting a behind-the-scenes look at the performing arts. The setting is more informal, and the cost to us is lower to co-produce these events, allowing us to include more young people at each event. Refreshments will be available at no cost at each event.

Similarly, our focus at the Palm Springs Art Museum will initially be to bring queer youth and friends to the museum’s Free Thursday Night event.

We welcome your interest in Q ArtPass - whether you're a student, parent, teacher, or potential donor! Reach out to Gary Dexter, our LGBTQ Bridge Builder, for more information please email: info@umcps.org